Inside Rasht's bloody crackdown: witnesses detail secret removals of bodies

Witnesses described security forces shooting at protesters, blocking aid to the wounded, demanding money from families before returning bodies, and pressuring relatives to hold secret burials and avoid public ceremonies.

The new accounts add to an Iran International public documentation campaign that has gathered testimony saying protesters in Rasht were driven into narrow market passages, trapped as fire spread and fired upon by security forces during January’s unrest.

The morning of Jan 9: a city in smoke, blood and fire

One eyewitness told Iran International that around 5 a.m. on January 9, heavy smoke and fire were still rising in the municipality area of Rasht.

The witness said streets leading to the municipality, including Namjoo Street, Imam Street, Shahrdari Street and the route from the bazaar toward Saqlan Square, were badly damaged and parts of the city had burned.

“On the morning of January 9, the city smelled of smoke. Traces of blood were clearly visible on Shahrdari and Saadi streets. The bloody handprints of protesters were on the city walls. Basijis in Sabzeh Meydan Square were busy erasing slogans with spray paint, and large parts of the bazaar had completely burned,” the witness said.

Bodies moved in pickup trucks and garbage trucks

An eyewitness told Iran International that on the morning of January 9, several municipal pickup trucks left Shahrdari Street, and the bodies of some of those killed were in the back of one vehicle, covered with cloth.

Iran International has also received multiple reports indicating that the bodies of some of those killed in Rasht were collected with garbage trucks and secretly transferred.

Witnesses said some wounded people were also among the bodies transferred to Bagh-e Rezvan cemetery in Rasht.

A source said one wounded person who had been transferred to Bagh-e Rezvan along with the bodies managed to escape and hid for a while in a nearby forest.

Transfer of bodies to an unmarked warehouse

New information received by Iran International shows that on January 8 and 9, the bodies of some of those killed in Rasht were transferred to a warehouse on Tehran Road, between Bagh-e Rezvan and Saravan.

The warehouse was painted red, white and green and had no specific sign or official marking.

The bodies were kept there temporarily before burial or transfer to other locations.

Witnesses describe DShK machine gun fire on protesters

Witnesses told Iran International that security forces used heavy weapons including DShK machine guns against people who had entered parts of the city’s military areas.

According to the accounts, the area around the Rasht governor’s office was one of the main sites where protesters were killed on January 8 and 9.

One eyewitness said Basij and Revolutionary Guards forces directed the crowd toward the governor’s office, placing protesters on a route where their ability to leave or retreat was limited.

The witnesses said armed forces shot at people after the gates of the governor’s office were opened.

The accounts indicated that the crackdown in Rasht was not limited to streets around the municipality, the bazaar, Namjoo Street and Sajjad Clinic, and that the area around the governor’s office was also a key site of shootings and killings.

Families told to pay for slain protesters’ bodies

Sources told Iran International that slain protesters' families faced severe security pressure.

Some families were asked to pay money to receive the bodies of their children, with the amount depending on the family’s financial situation, according to the accounts.

Some families were asked for several billion rials, equivalent to several thousand dollars, and in some cases more than 10 billion rials, or over $5,700 at the open-market rate, the sources said.

An eyewitness said one family was told to bring a box of sweets along with the payment before they could receive their loved one’s body.

The witness said the request was part of a humiliating process of dealing with the survivors.

Families forced into secret night burials

Witnesses told Iran International that the families of some slain protesters were not allowed to wash their loved ones’ bodies, a standard Islamic burial rite performed before burial.

One eyewitness said security agents told a family the victims were “ritually impure” and had to be buried as they were, bloodied and still in their clothes.

According to witness accounts, burials were often carried out late at night or near dawn, with a limited number of family members present and under pressure from security forces.

The burial place of many of the victims is in the far sections of Bagh-e Rezvan in Rasht.

Families said they were repeatedly humiliated and threatened while receiving and burying the bodies.